Next chap! Enjoy!
xxXX..Chapter Four..XXxx Adaptation
Leah punched a complicated looking code of numbers into a small keypad beside the plain looking garage door. The door made a faint buzzing noise, and then a click. "It's open," Leah said. She pushed the door open. It was very dark inside. Leah closed the door behind them, and stumbled around in the dark, looking for the light switch. She found it, and the fluorescent lights above them flickered on.
Artemis looked around, but all he saw was a car, a Mustang GT to be exact. Leah looked very happy. She climbed onto the trunk, and sat there, swinging her legs. "This is it," she yelled. "The project I've spent the past six years of my young life working on!"
Artemis tried very hard to look impressed. "What is it, exactly?" he asked, looking at the car suspiciously. Leah gasped. "It's only the breakthrough of the century in automobile safety, duh!"
"But what is it?" he asked again. Leah sighed, exasperated. "Well, it's got some kinks to work out, but that's why you're here. This, Artemis Fowl, is the first ever anti-hydroplaning car. Sort of. This one actually works."
"How does it work?" asked Artemis, interested all of a sudden. He ran his hand over the dark blue body of the car. Leah made a satisfactory sighing noise, and hopped down. She pointed at the wheels. "Magnets. The magnets in the wheels can stick to the metal in the ground, even through water, when activated, and stop a car from hydroplaning. In theory. Aeriel and I are trying to think of a way of preventing sliding, with out actually stopping the car."
Artemis sat and thought. "This is going to take some time, Miss Purdue. But, I must say, this is a very good idea, if not exactly sensible."
"Not sensible? What do you mean, not sensible?" Leah asked, getting the tiniest angry.
"Not everyone would be able to use it, take for instance, people in rural areas, with not enough money to afford it, or not the right kind of roads. We need to adapt this idea, make it better. It might take more than a month."
Leah looked at her car. Then, at Artemis. Then, at her watch. "Good Gravy! It's late." She pushed Artemis out the door. "You need sleep, and so do I. We need to 'adapt' this idea, as you say."
She locked the door, and took off running for the manor. She loved to run. She loved being fast.
Artemis watched the girl run, white-blond hair in a tangled mess. He laughed, just once, and walked towards the manor.
The next morning
Butler woke up and felt… different somehow. It was 6 am, time to get up anyway. Aeriel was already up and dressed..
She was in the kitchen, making herself breakfast. She twitched her lips, waiting for the toast to pop up. Why does toast take so long to make, and when it finally does pop up, you jump? It popped. She was trained though, she didn't jump. She smiled. Well, there's one accomplishment for the day. Butler walked in through the front door, and Leah popped in from the outside entrance.
"There's someone missing," droned Aeriel. Leah looked guilty. "Um… he's making friends with Talula outside."
Aeriel was horrified. "Oh, Leah, you didn't!" She ran out the back door, followed by Butler, who was expecting the worse. What was this "Talula" thing? A crazy relative? A ferocious dog? Well… he was about 1/4 right…
A few minutes earlier
Artemis had lost Leah. Again. Could that girl ever stay in one place? He was out in the yard, near the garage.
He heard some rustling from a nearby rose bush. He looked at it closely, but slowly backed away on instinct. "Hello?" he said. No answer, but there was a snort. Probably just a dog, he thought, and turned to leave.
And that's when about 100 pounds of pig jumped on him.
Now, I'm not sure how much a pig actually ways. I would be forever grateful if someone might could tell me an estimate. Then, I'll change it. Thanks- RF
Back to where we were before…
Aeriel was up again, trying to perfect some blueprints. Leah's birthday was coming soon, and she needed a new telescope. The one she had had been good, but Leah needed a new one. Aeriel drew a line on the blue paper. "Hmmm," More lines. Leah was going to love this.
Artemis decided to take this night to explore Leah's house. He grabbed a flashlight from his bag (where did that come from?), and snuck out of his room.
Butler had some blueprints of his own to work on. He figured the kitchen would probably be the best place to work. He gathered up the rolls of blue paper, and some pencils, and went quietly down to the kitchen.
Leah woke up, and realized something. All the fun was someplace else. She hopped out of bed, grabbed her own flashlight, and quietly went out of her bedroom, too.